Social and economic development of underdeveloped & developing countries bringing about an equitable growth eradicating the poverty, hunger, malnutrition, illiteracy and providing the poor better livelihood options...

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Social media
permits multiple identities - tribal, feudal, regional, linguistic, national,
religious, ... It allows the material impulses/instincts to be satisfied by proxy,
in the virtual world. The very nature of the network allows hierarchical and horizontal
connections with others

Recent technological innovations
put the tools of production of media content in the hands of common man. It allows
anybody with access to the Net to reach across to millions. It gives voice to
erstwhile voiceless. Access to these tools empowers the powerless.

For the traditional large
corporate media houses, however, it has been very disempowering. Grandmothers start
chitchatting with their grandchildren on the other part of the world,
disregarding their favourite serial - because that is the best time to interact
with people on the other part of the world. Young householders living in rented
flats are attending to their virtual farms and decorating their virtual houses,
fulfilling their instincts and dreams. Young children making up animation
stories using applications in iPad... Attracting eyeballs to any mass
entertainment has never been more difficult.

From the traditional mass
media point of view, the new media is seen as merely another platform for
delivery. But the new media is much more than that. It is a platform for
interactions, conversations, searching, creating and sharing. Sharing is a two
way process but media delivery is a one way street. The traditional business
models for media are not yet really ready for this transformation.

We need to
guard against the negative impact of the social media, which ought to be used
in the correct manner for creative or productive purposes so that it is
progressive to mankind and society at large, rather than regressive

The term social mediais being used quite often by everyone and has become a popular topic
of conversation, debates and controversies. Contrary to popular belief and
perceptions of the general public, social media is not just restricted to sites
like Facebook and Twitter. Social media, in fact, encompasses all the web services
that facilitate creation, sharing and exchange of user-generated content. These
include but are not restricted to Internet forums, groups, blogs, microblogs,
networking sites, social bookmarking sites, wikis, podcasts, content communities
for articles, video/photo sharing sites, Q & A sites, review sites and so
on and so forth, the list is endless. The number of people accessing and using
the social media is increasing exponentially day by day. But how many of us truly
understand what social media is and the effect it has on people as individuals
and the society at large.

People’s movements, civil society organizations,
academic thinktanks, and progressive political leaders will have to lead the way,
both by resisting today’s destructive processes and by building on existing alternatives

India’s
attempts at integrating environmental sustainability into economic planning have so far been piecemeal and
hesitant. They have done little to stem the rapid slide into ecological
devastation and consequent livelihood, cultural, and economic disruption. At
the root of this lies the stubborn adherence to a model of economic growth that
is fundamentally unsustainable and inequitable, even more so in its
‘globalised’ form in the last two decades.

The
12th Plan process could have been an opportunity to change course, specially
given its explicit commitment to sustainability, inclusiveness and equity.
Indeed there are some glimpses of a different approach, e.g. making economic activities
more responsible in their use of resources and in the wastes they produce,
promoting urban water harvesting and public transport, providing organic inputs
to agriculture use, encouraging recycling, making tourism more environmentally
responsible and community-based, moving towards low-carbon strategies, and protecting
the ‘commons’ (lands and waters that are used by the public), giving
communities more secure rights to use and manage these. Yet the Plan falls far short of significant reorientation, mostly staying within the
confines of assuming that more growth will help achieve these goals. It does
not use any available framework of ‘sustainable development’, including
the targets that India agreed to at the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development
(Johannesberg). It does not contain indicators to gauge whether India is
moving towards sustainability, e.g. improvement in per capita availability of
natural forests, reduction in the levels of various kinds of pollution,
improved access to nutritious food and clean water, or enhanced availability of
public transport. Environmental considerations do not yet permeate each
economic sector.